Heated platen transfer apparatus



Aug. 22, 1961 E. J. GUSHUE HEATED PLATEN TRANSFER APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 4, 1958 THERMMTAT WAIT RUN POWER MOTOR Aug. 22, 1961 E. J. GUSHUE HEATED PLATEN TRANSFER APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 4, 1958 Aug. 22, 1961 E. J. GUSHUE 2,997,016

HEATED PLATEN TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed June 4, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. 22, 1961 E. J. GUSHUE 2,997,016

HEATED PLATEN TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed June 4, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 1/ W 4 W U0 W W! /Z/ y assists Patented Aug. 22, 1961 than 2,997,016 HEATED PLATEN TRANSFER APPARATUS Edward J. Gushue, Hyde Park, Mass, assignor to Farrington Manufacturing 'Company, Needham Heights, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed June 4, 1958, Ser. No. 739,875 4 Claims. (Cl. 1181) This invention relates to printing and more specifically to apparatus for providing embossed characters or type with pigmented or colored material.

The invention is particularly applicable to providing the embossings on plastic identification tokens with color contrasting to that of the background material so that the embossings are more legible by reason of the color contrast. Thus, for example, credit cards are currently being made of plastic material which is embossed to provide printing characters for making impressions on a sales slip at the point of consummation of a credit transaction. The name, address and credit number when embossed thereon are not readily legible because they have the same color as the plastic surface from which they are embossed. It has thus become desirable to provide means whereby such cards may have their embossings automatically tipped with pigmented material of a color contrasting with the color of the background card material. The operation must, however, be precise because of the small embossing height dimensions being dealt with, in order to secure uniform tipping of each of a series of letters or numbers.

The present invention provides. such an automatic machine which has versatility with respect to the nature of the material operated upon in that the apparatus, in tipping the characters with pigmented material, automatically compensates for thickness variations in individual cards of a. group or in different groups of cards having deliberately difierent thicknesses so that equally satisfactory results are secured regardless of variations in the thickness of the cards, over a reasonable range, without requiring any manual adjustment in the apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide in such a tipping machine mechanism which will insure completion of the machine cycle once it commences, regardless of whether a card is inadvertently withdrawn before completion of the cycle and despite the fact that the cycle is initiated by actuation of a sensing mechanism responsive to insertion of the card into the machine. This is of particular importance where the tipping material is fed through the machine automatically part of the cycle, since it is necessary to insure that a fresh supply of tipping material be available for each card insertion, even though a card may have been inadvertently prematurely withdrawn prior to the completion of a cycle.

These and other objects of the invention will be more apparent from the following description and operation of the apparatus of the invention, a typical embodiment of which is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional detail of a portion stationary platen or bed 12 on top of which the material to be tipped, such as the plastic card C, shown in FIG. 6, may be inserted into the machine. Suspended over the bed 12 is a vertically movable platen 14 provided with a repellant facing material 16, for example of silicone rubber. The platen 14 is seated in a metal block 17 which contains an internal electrical resistance heating element 18 and an internal thermostat 29. The block 17 is adjusta-bly hung and spaced by screws 19 and spacer screws 21 from a platen 22 carried by a piston 24 working in a bushing 26 contained in a vertical bore through a casting 28 supported by side frames 39 extending up from the base 10.

The casting 28 bears at its top a pair of spaced bearings 32 in which is journaled a shaft 34 carrying centrally thereon an eccentric cam 36, fixedly mounted on the shaft 34. An eccentric strap 38 is pivotally connected through pin 39 to the head 40 of a plunger 42 mounted for vertical movement relative to shaft 34. The plunger 42 telescopes downwardly into the platen piston 24 and a compression spring 46 is interposed between the bottom of the plunger 42 and the upwardly facing surface of the bottom of the bore in the platen piston 24.

The two telescoping partsthe plunger 42 and the piston 24-are held against separation by a bolt 50 passing loosely upwardly through the piston 24 and screw threaded into the plunger 42. Bolt 50 provides an adjustment controlling the dwell of the platen at the bottom of its stroke. As shown, the top of block 17 is relieved at 52 to permit clearance for the head of the bolt 50.

As shown in FIGS. Sand 6, side guides 54 control the exact place of insertion of a card C. These guides 54 take the form of opposed under-cut heat-resistant plastic rails carried on headed pins 56 extending upwardly through the base 10 and urged into raised position by springs 58 attached to the bottom of base 10.

As shown, the platen 14 is also under-cut at its side edges so that it clears the inside edges of the rails 54. Thus, as shown most clearly in FIG. 4, when the platen 24 descends its under-cut surfaces 60 will first engage the top surfaces of side rails 54. This will cause the rails 54 to depress until their under-surfaces 61 engage the marginal portions of the card C extending beneath the rails 54- and outside of the transfer area. Any further motion of the platen 14 will be resisted, the compression spring 46 between the plunger 42 and the piston 24 permitting further downward motion of plunger 42 relative to stopped piston 24, thus providing a dwell for the platen at the limit of its stroke.

The vertical height of the rails 54 in the portions overlying the card C is so chosen with respect to the height of the embossings E on card C and with respect to the distance between the bottom silicone face of the platen l4 and the surfaces 60 that, taken with the interposition of an ink ribbon (which will be subsequently described) between the platen and the embossings E, motion will be imparted to the platen to an exact predetermined limit with respect to the tops of the embossings E as to insure a transfer of the ink to a correct degree upon the tips of the embossing. As can be seen, if the thickness of the card C varies without change in the height of the embossings E, an exact operation will still be secured because the limit of downward motion of the platen 14 is controlled by the thickness of the card C because its limit of motion is controlled by the rails 54- being moved into contact with the top marginal portions of the card C. The device therefore acts without regard to the exact thickness of the card C wherever the embossings extend a substantially like amount above the face of the card. By merely changing the rails 54 the device may be adjusted also in those few cases where the height of the cmbossings changes.

To drive shaft 34, it carries a sprocket 65 which is connected by a sprocket chain 66 and sprocket wheel 67 to a drive shaft 63 extending from a gear box 69 enclosed within a motor housing 70. The shaft 68 also carries a brake cam 72 into the path of which extends a vertically extending lever arm 74 pivoted at 76 and having at its bottom an inwardly extending horizontal foot 78. The foot, as shown in FIG. 6, extends into the path of a slide plate 80 which in turn is positioned in the path of insertion of a card C. A spring 32 (FIG. normally urges this card sensing mechanism towards the front of the machine. Accordingly when a card is inserted into the machine, it engages the sensing plate 80, pushes it rearwardly to pivot the lever 74 and disengages the brake to permit drive of the shafts 68 and 34.

Since the cam 72 is of progressively decreasing radius, however, it is necessary in order that the sensing plate 80 not creep towards the front of the machine as the lever 74 follows the periphery of the cam 72, to provide a lock to hold the sensing mechanism 80 in a fixed rearward position so that the card C will remain stationary until the platen has cleared the card C on its upward stroke.

For this purpose as shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 7, the lever 74 has a forward extending latch 84 which, in the unloaded position of the sensing mechanism, as shown in FIG. 5, overlies a release bar 86 which is pivoted at 87, as shown in FIG. 3, between brackets 88 fixed to a side frame member 30 of the machine. Both the latch member 84 and the release bar 86 are bevelled, so that upon rear motion of the lever 74, the latch 84 will pivot the bar 86 downwardly permitting the tooth 90 of the latch to pass rearwardly with respect to the release bar 86 until it is brought into the position shown in FIG. 7, whereupon the release bar 36 will spring upwardly into the position shown in FIG. 7 under the influence of a spring 91 (FIG. 3). In this position, the lever 74 and its connected parts, including the sensing plate 80, are locked so that the sensing foot 80 may not move the card outwardly until the latch 84 has been released.

The release mechanism for latch 84 is shown best in FIG. 3 and includes a pivoted hook 92 mounted on the bottom surface of the plate 22. On the downward stroke of the platen the hook 92, because of bevelled surfaces, pivots past the release bar 86 and does not unlock the sensing mechanism. On the return stroke, however, the hook 92 engages the fiat bottom surface of release bar 36 and pivots it so that the spring 82 can return the lever 74 and sensing plate 80 to loading position; and, in this motion, the card C is partially ejected from the machine. Thereafter, the lever 74-, under the influence of the spring 82, bears against the brake cam 72 so as to stop the shaft 68 at the end of a single revolution cycle.

There remains to be described only the inking ribbon mechanism and feed.

As shown in FIG. 2 a roll 100 of inking ribbon is mounted on an arbor 101 extending outwardly at the front of the machine.

The material is fed downwardly across two idler rolls 102, 103, a guide roll 104 and between two clamping rolls 105 and 106, and thence to a take-up reel 107. The take-up reel 107 is driven by a slip belt 108 from a pulley mounted on shaft 109 which carries the clamping roll 105 and has a conventional knurled knob arbor and bayonet-type quick release mounting as shown.

The shaft 109 is driven intermittently in one direction by a pawl and ratchet mechanism 110 which is attached by a long vertically extending arm 112 by a crank pin 114 to a crank 116 mounted on the top shaft 34.

Thus as shown in FIG. 5, when the crank arm 112 moves downwardly, it will dry clamping roll 105 in a counter-clockwise direction to advance the ribbon and when the crank arm moves towards its position, escape mechanism permits the crank to reset the pawl and ratchet mechanism for a subsequent operation in the next cycle.

The smaller roll 106 of the pair of clamping rolls is for convenience mounted on a toggle mechanism which includes fixed brackets 120 on which are pivoted at 122 links 124 which carry at their upper end a guide rod 126 operating in slots 128 in the side frames. Springs 130 extend between the rod 126 and pins 132 on the lower portions of the brackets 120 and the parts are so designed that by manually moving the rod 126 in its slots to the right as shown in FIG. 5, springs 130 will snap the links over to the right hand position, thus permitting more ready threading of the ribbon between the clamping rolls.

In operation, therefore, with the motor 70 turned on and the parts in the position shown in FIG. 5, a card may be inserted from left to right into the machine, moving the sensing plate to the rear. With this motion, the lever 74 releases the one revolution brake 72 and simultaneously the latch 84 moves to locked position to hold the plate 80 at its innermost position.

As shaft 34 rotates it moves the platen downwardly until its bottom surface 60 comes into engagement with the rails 54 driving the rails downwardly into engagement with the marginal portions of the inserted card. The platen has a dwell period during which the plunger 42 may move further downwardly against the yielding action of spring 46 and with the bolt head 50 moving away from the plate 22. As shaft 32 continues its revolution the plunger will commence its upward motion with bolt head 50 engaging plate 22 to lift the platen again. As this upward motion of the platen is initiated, the hook 92 trips the release bar 86 and the spring 32 will kick the sensing plate 80 forward and partially eject the card.

Meanwhile the crank, during the first portion of the cycle, has reset the pawl and ratchet mechanism and during the latter portion of the cycle has moved the clamp ing roll through an arc sufiicient to bring a fresh area of the inking material beneath the platen.

Upon completion of one revolution of the cam 72, the cycle is completed without however turning off the motor.

The thermostat 20 is so regulated that for a particular dwell sufficient heat is provided by the heater 82 to the block 17 and platen face to insure a proper transfer of the ink from the ribbon.

Suitable visible indicia may be provided as shown in FIG. 1 for indicating when the platen reaches the required temperature as determined by the thermostat together with separate power and motor switches.

I claim:

1. Heated platen ink ribbon transfer apparatus comprising a stationary bed for receiving workpieces to be printed, a platen, means for heating said platen, an inking ribbon between said bed and said platen, power means for driving said platen through a single cycle of reciprocation towards and away from said bed, motion responsive mechanism interposed in the path of a workpiece inserted into said apparatus between said ribbon and said stationary bed, to initiate a cycle of reciprocation of said platen by said power means responsive to engagement and movement of said mechanism by a workpiece inserted into the apparatus and means locking said mechanism against inadvertent release throughout that portion of the cycle of platen reciprocation preceding its movement away from said bed irrespective of the subsequent presence or non-presence of the workpiece in said apparatus.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the locking means includes a latch moved into locking position by the motion of said mechanism responsive to insertion of the workpiece in the apparatus, and means associated with the platen for moving said latch into an unlocked position as the platen moves away from said bed during the latter portion of the cycle of platen reciprocation to release said mechanism for at least partially ejecting said workpiece from said apparatus.

3. In heated platen ink ribbon transfer apparatus having a stationary bed, a platen and power means to reciprocate said platen towards and away from said stationary bed the improvement which comprises guide rails on either side of said bed having under-cut portions for accommodating marginal portions of a workpiece beneath portions of said guide rails, said guide rails being mounted for movement towards and away from said bed and being disposed in the path of movement of said platen in areas marginal to the transfer area to move downwardly onto said workpiece marginal portions during reciprocation or" said platen and limit the motion of said platen as determined by the thickness of said workpiece marginal portions and independent of the limit of motion of said platen in the absence of said workpiece, said power means, including a drive shaft, a head driven by said shaft, said head having telescopic connection with said platen, a compression spring interposed in driving relation between said head and said platen and providing a yielding drive of said platen by said head on its movement toward said bed through said spring to provide a dwell of said heated platen at the limit of its stroke as resisted by said rails while said head moves through the extreme portions of its reciprocation as driven by said shaft, means for extending an inked ribbon beneath said platen above said bed, and means for intermittently feeding said ribbon across said platen to expose a fresh area of said ribbon to said platen during each up stroke of said reciprocating platen.

4. Heated platen ink ribbon transfer apparatus comprising a stationary bed, a pair of opposed guide rails mounted on said bed, said rails having inwardly extending portions spaced above said bed, and cooperating to accommodate and extend over marginal side edges of a workpiece inserted into said apparatus while leaving intervening portions of the upper surfaces of said workpiece exposed, said inwardly extending rail portions having a height greater than the maximum thickness or" a workpiece to be inserted in said apparatus, said rails being mounted for yielding movement towards said bed, a platen mounted over said rails for movement downwardly onto said rails to press said rails towards said bed, power operated means for moving said platen into pressing contact with said rails, and a lost motion connection between said power operated means and said platen whereby the limit of every downward stroke of said platen is determined by the particular thickness of the workpiece marginal portions inserted under said rail portions and is fixed with respect to the upper marginal surface of the workpiece irrespective of the particular thickness of the workpiece marginal portions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 45,893 Hill Jan. 10, 1865 1,832,007 Eckland et a1. Nov. 17, 1931 2,065,690 Gould et al. Dec. 29, 1936 2,281,763 Grant May 5, 1942 2,356,951; Runton Aug. 29, 1944 2,619,899 Gollwitzer Dec. 2, 1952 2,777,385 Bachy Ian. 15, 1957 

